Family Reunion

By: Maureen Callahan

What better way to celebrate who you are and where you came from than with an old-fashioned family reunion?

Invitations, Keepsakes, and Activities

Check online and local printers for cost to make unique postcard invitations with reunion theme, family pictures, or logos.
To go the DIY route, design and print your own invitations. The more fun and personalized the invitation, the better the response.
Have special T-shirts or key chains made with family logos, date of the reunion, or funny pictures to commemorate the day.
Ask family members to mail baby pictures and have members try to match them to a family tree. Award a prize to the winner.
Assign a few family members to take pictures with a digital camera. Place photos on a free exchange Web site or create your own family Web site.
Set up a net for volleyball or badminton. Bring footballs, soccer balls, bocce balls, softballs or any outdoor sports equipment to get families playing together.

Reunions for Every Budget

No-Cost Reunion:

Choose a free location. Try a picnic shelter area in a local park or hold the event at the beach or in the backyard of a family member. Make the meal a potluck and ask everyone to bring games.

Low-Cost Reunion:

Reserve a camp site, church hall, or basement. Delegate shopping and prep to different family members. Bring guitars, marshmallows, and other campfire entertainment for outdoor adventures, or hire a clown or magician to entertain kids indoors. Consider hiring a DJ if it's nighttime event.

Splurge Reunion:

Pick a travel destination (amusement park, big city, secluded getaway, spa or resort) that appeals to family members and book a group package for a weekend stay. Let each family arrange their own transportation.

Planning Tips

Pick a date. Solicit advice from key family members and those with kids. Summer might be the only time available for some families.

Form a planning committee to iron out details. Decide the specifics: theme of the reunion, location, time needed, and budget.
Key questions to ask the committee: How many people might attend? Will the event be catered or will family members prepare food? Are you talking about one afternoon or a weekend event? Where will event be held--someone's house, a park, or a hotel?
Once date and key specifics are decided send out invitations. Ask for volunteers for food and entertainment.

Good Food Planning

If you're going the low- or no-cost route, it helps to split the menu into sections and delegate food prep. The larger your group, the more people you'll need to handle each part of the meal.

What works: when you have to please a large range of tastes, it's best to stick to the basics. Tried and true recipes with short ingredient lists are also much easier to scale up or down to suit the size of your party. Use the scaling function available on all our recipes.

Easy Beverages